Exposure to lead from lead paint can lead to lead poisoning, especially in children. Numerous cases of lead poisoning in children from ingestion of lead paint have been documented.
Lead paint is frequently found in older buildings, and most often in public housing. Because of the potential of exposure to lead paint to cause lead poisoning in children and others, lead paint must either be removed or encapsulated. Removal of lead paint has been accomplished by sand blasting or other abrasive techniques. Such abrasive techniques run the risk of exposure to air borne particulates of lead paint. Encapsulating techniques avoid this potential exposure to lead paint particulates. Existing encapsulation methods are deficient in that they lack structural integrity and can crack, thereby exposing inhabitants to the underlying lead paint, or require the successive application of several layers of encapsulating material. The present invention overcomes these structural deficiencies, and imparts to the encapsulating surface a high degree of structural integrity sufficient to withstand the ordinary wear and tear to which the surfaces are subjected, while providing an increased efficiency in the encapsulation because the encapsulating layer is applied as one continuous layer.